Season 5 Episode 1 Sovereign

Jax

“Something happens at around 92 miles an hour – thunder-headers drown out all sound, engine vibrations travels at a heart’s rate, field of vision funnels into the immediate and suddenly you’re not on the road, you’re in it. A part of it. Traffic, scenery, cops – just cardboard cutouts blowing over as you past. Sometimes I forget the rush of that. That’s why I love these long runs. All your problems, all the noise, gone. Nothing else to worry about except what’s right in front of you. Maybe that’s the lesson for me today, to hold on to these simple moments. Appreciate them a little more – there’s not many of them left. I don’t ever want that for you. Finding things that make you happy shouldn’t be so hard. I know you’ll face pain, suffering, hard choices, but you can’t let the weight of it choke the joy out of your life. No matter what, you have to find the things that love you. Run to them. There’s an old saying, ‘That what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger’ I don’t believe that. I think the things that try to kill you make you angry and sad. Strength comes from the good things – your family, your friends, the satisfaction of hard work. Those are the things that’ll keep you whole. Those are the things to hold on to when you’re broken.”

The first part of the quote when he describes riding his motorcycle and how all your problems go away is what we call flow in psychology. Athletes call it being in the zone. Whatever you call it, it’s a beautiful thing. You feel energized, alive and you lose all track of time when you’re there. It happens when you are so wrapped up in doing something you love that you lose all sight of everything else.

How do you find your flow? Notice what activities you really enjoy in life. You’ll find it in anything that you can do for hours on end without everyday problems intruding. I have to caution you though that this feeling is addictive. It’s probably the root of most behavioral addictions. However, when used in moderation, it is a key to happiness.

Jax keys into another way to find happiness when he talks about appreciating the simple moments. So many times we get wrapped up in the every day mechanics of our lives that we forget to appreciate all the good things in our lives. I’m guilty of this. I tend to get so wrapped up in my work that I forget to enjoy all the beauty in life. I forget to appreciate the people who love me. Jax says it well when he says “you have to find the things that love you. Run to them.”

And when you are with the people you love, keep things in perspective. Jax talks about facing “pain, suffering and hard choices” but not letting that ruin the joy in your life. That’s a hard thing for a lot of people. People tend to focus on what goes wrong in life more than what goes right. You have to see that there is a delicate balance to life of both good and bad. Keep that in perspective by appreciating what you have and let go of the pain.

Jax goes on to say that strength comes from the good things in your life and not from suffering. It comes from family, friends and hard work. I believe it can come from both. If you let your suffering make you “angry and sad” then it weakens you. If you turn your suffering into something positive, it can give you strength. It’s all in what you do with it.

This is a great quote from Sons of Anarchy that shows you can find a bit of wisdom in almost anything. So, here’s the wisdom I found in this quote: